We had a pitch invader, fights galore, Tribunal drama and a couple of remarkable comebacks – footy is well and truly back!

It’s weirder than ever, though – the reigning premiers are 0-3, the runners-up are also winless to start the year, and the two hottest teams in the land are both from Sydney. Well, the latter is pretty normal these days, but still.

There’s plenty to talk about, as always – so from problems at the Magpies to unpacking Peter Wright’s collision with Harry Cunningham, let’s dive right in.

1. Wright’s sanction the wrong one

I must have been watching a different incident on Saturday night to the one social media warriors – and several Sydney players – appeared to see when Peter Wright collided with Harry Cunningham at the SCG.

To begin with, let’s call it what it was – a collision, and not a hit, nor a bump, and especially not a snipe. It’s the sort of incident that, up until recently, was seen as an occupational hazard of one of the world’s most brutal, fast-paced sports.

Those times have changed, and it’s no longer safe to wave such collisions away without attempting to stamp them out of the game, especially when they result in a serious injury as Wright’s did, with Cunningham suffering a serious concussion.

But it’s worth noting, if for nothing else than to defend Wright’s character, that the only thing he did wrong was, in the split second it took to make the decision, brace for contact rather than continuing to fly for the mark and risking his own wellbeing.

In so doing, he turned his body into a projectile in the way the AFL is desperately trying to eradicate from the game – and rightly so.

Nevertheless, this was a complete accident with no malice intended – this certainly wasn’t a big bloke trying to make a smaller opponent ‘earn it’ by ironing them out late, which is exactly what Wright’s teammate Sam Draper did with a far cheaper shot on Jake Lloyd later in the game.

The laws of our game as they stand meant MRO Michael Christian had no alternative but to send the case to the Tribunal – he couldn’t not grade the incident as careless, and the impact was obviously severe.

But this is where the laws are once again proved to be ill-equipped to handle the nuances of footy these days, because a likely four-game suspension for Wright – the standard minimum sentence for Tribunal cases if it isn’t thrown out – is totally overkill for what was an unfortunate accident.

Two weeks should have been the maximum penalty for what Wright did, balancing the need to deter players from attacking the ball (or, more accurately, protecting themselves over all others) in the way the big Bomber did with the fact that the concussion was borne not of malice or even clumsiness, but self-preservation.

I’d be more happy to have seen Christian come down hard on Draper for what he did – that was totally unavoidable, completely unnecessary and the sort of dirty play the Swans should have focussed on post-match instead of claiming Wright will be facing a ‘nice holiday’, in the words of Tom Papley.

That Draper only received a fine while Wright looks set for a month on the sidelines proves beyond a doubt that we as a game are still far too outcomes-based in determining both what is a reportable offence, and how severe the penalties are.

What Draper did was nearly as dangerous as what Wright did, far more deliberate, and yet his punishment is minimal because he didn’t hit anyone in just the wrong spot due to a split-second decision.

It’s time to change that.

2. Tom Papley is a hypocrite – and that’s okay

I’ve long thought that the main reason media types lament players and coaches spouting cliches and acting like robots when speaking to the press is because they love nothing more than to rip into them whenever they say something even slightly controversial.

So I’m going to be careful and not criticise Tom Papley too much for speaking his mind and going after Essendon in the media following Saturday night’s spiteful clash at the SCG.

Papley is a character, and no doubt his comments have been manna from heaven for media outlets (including this one!) across the rest of the weekend.

But yes, as Tony Jones said on The Sunday Footy Show, it’s a bit rich of anyone from Sydney to be taking umbrage with the physical, aggressive approach the Bombers took to that match – one that, for all the furore it generated, only crossed the line once, with the Draper cheap shot on Lloyd I’ve already mentioned.

It was less than 12 months ago when the Swans, Papley chief among them, made it their mission to rough up Nick Daicos at the MCG, only for they too to come out on the wrong side of the result.

I defended it at the time, just like I defended the ‘Essendon Edge’ on Saturday night – as long as it doesn’t spill over into petty thuggery and dog acts, then trying to make a star player or even a star side feel uncomfortable comes with the territory of playing at the highest level.

So yes, Tom Papley is being a massive hypocrite by complaining about the Bombers’ treatment – and if I may take a swipe below the belt at the Swans, one of my petty fan beliefs is that they as a club love a bit of a whinge when things don’t go their way, like, for example, a free kick count in a certain grand final.

But that’s okay – everyone is. If you watch a teammate get poleaxed, of course you’re going to be furious – and as we saw last year with West Coast’s reaction to Elijah Hewett getting concussed by Jordan De Goey, it’s going to become more commonplace for players to vent their frustrations off the field as well as on it.

And as someone technically ‘in’ the media, I’m all for it. Bring on the outrage clicks!

3. Sam Darcy has arrived

I wrote last week that Gold Coast needed to capitalise on its hot start to 2024 – safe to say they didn’t in Ballarat on Sunday afternoon.

But instead of focussing on the loser and giving them a whack, I’m going to enjoy a rare opportunity to heap praise on my Western Bulldogs – and one man in particular.

Playing game number eight, Sam Darcy was simply monumental, in a performance that will surely earn him a Rising Star nomination on Monday night.

He still looks skinny as a rake, but his enormous frame and freakishly long arms mean he’s a weapon if given a chance to take the ball at its highest point, a luxury the Suns were incapable of stopping him from using.

Just as impressive is his work at ground level and foot skills around the ground, both of which bely a player of his size – there was, dare I say, a touch of Luke Jackson and Tim English about the way he roamed around the ground, taking big marks at both ends of the ground and providing a presence wherever he was.

There’s simply no way Rory Lobb, despite a creditable VFL performance, is getting picked over this guy anytime soon – it would be great for the Dogs if he can reinvent himself as a key defender, because it seems the third tall forward/second ruck role is Darcy’s for the foreseeable future.

Between him, Aaron Naughton and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, the Dogs have an enviable multi-pronged forward line, all with different strengths and assets. If Marcus Bontempelli can remain elite for another, I guess, five years, then look out.

4. Sean Darcy needs a new role… or a new club

I was firmly on board when Sean Darcy, at the end of an excellent, borderline All-Australian 2023, signed a mammoth six-year contract extension tying him to Fremantle until the end of 2030.

Our game moves fast, though; because just two Freo games later, neither of which he has played, the ruckman is now firmly on the periphery, and being talked up as potential trade bait. And it pains me to say I’m starting to agree with that perspective.

That’s not a knock on Darcy, who as a bullocking, contested beast of a big man is the sort of player a lot of teams – the other one in Western Australia, for one – would kill for.

It’s more that Luke Jackson, after two superb games as the Dockers’ solo ruckman, is spectacular.

Clear best afield in Freo’s comeback win over North Melbourne, the 21-year old’s performance was simply outrageous. Dominant around stoppages, a ball-winner around the ground and impactful up forward with two goals, he made a more than competent opponent in Tristan Xerri look second rate in every aspect.

The most terrifying thing for opposition supporters, though, was the way Jackson was used: aggressively sprinting forward whenever the Dockers got a break away, the more classically built ruckman that is Xerri was simply unable to go with him. And nor, I suspect, will most other ruckmen in the league.

Kane Cornes is right – Jackson could be an absolute game-changer as a number one ruck, and his presence has seemed to unlock the Dockers’ ball movement – particularly after half time when he really began to dominate, they looked to capitalise on his mobility advantage on Xerri by bursting forward at every opportunity, an un-Freo-like trait under Justin Longmuir.

Darcy, for all that he is as a player, isn’t capable of doing that.

For starters at least, when he returns from injury in a few weeks’ time, Darcy will need to find another role, because it would be madness to shift Jackson back to being the second-string big man.

Sure, Jackson is more equipped to play in other roles, but he drastically comes back to the pack in them, because there is no position on the ground where his athleticism is more unique than against opposition ruckmen, and he doesn’t have the skill, smarts or agility to be a true Marcus Bontempelli or Patrick Cripps-style big-bodied midfielder… yet.

Could Darcy make it work as a bullocking tall forward with stints on the ball? He might have to, to be honest; because in his absence, the Dockers have unearthed something that makes them a genuinely scary proposition.

5. Why are we retiring Scott Pendlebury?

In recent years, there has been no shortage of veteran players being written off as ‘finished’ after two or three down games – the Collingwood champion is only the latest.

But this one has been particularly jarring – just weeks ago, the main focus around Pendlebury’s 2024 was the near-certainty he would join the elusive 400-game club, and his form in 2023, particularly in the finals, suggested he was going to fly past that mark and keep going strongly.

Yet by virtue both of a disappointing – by his standards – start to the season and the Magpies’ shocking 0-3 start, it’s Pendlebury now firmly in the gun, and facing media scrutiny over his spot and career for probably the first time in 18 years.

Never mind the fact that, with 20 disposals at 75 per cent efficiency and four clearances, Pendlebury is far from the Pies’ worst performer at the moment. Jordan De Goey had 13 and was barely sighted, but because he’s on the right side of 30 everyone seems more than happy to give him the leeway of a poor game or two.

We’re four games from Pendlebury being the most important player on the ground in the last quarter of a bloody grand final. Surely we can at least give him half a year before writing the obituary!

6. Writing about Travis Boak – because SOMEONE has to

Plenty was made during the week about the league’s official website seemingly paying more attention to a man celebrating his 50th game than one celebrating his 350th – and it seemed to be a pretty broad trend across the footy landscape to only give Travis Boak’s incredible achievement the most passing of mentions.

What irked me most, though, was that the main talking point on the rare occasions Boak was discussed was something that happened some 11 and a half years ago – his decision to forego money and almost guaranteed success at Geelong by remaining at a Port Adelaide team that was, at that time, at its lowest ebb.

It’s a lovely story of loyalty and character, to be sure; but to have that as the defining moment of Boak’s career does him a disservice, I think. It’s the sort of thing that shouldn’t command the lion’s share of the attention for a player who is surely in the Power’s best five AFL players ever, and is arguably pushing for the top three alongside Warren Tredrea and Robbie Gray.

Boak’s career is a remarkable one for a couple of reasons, the most obvious to me that it’s genuinely difficult to pinpoint exactly when he was playing career-best footy.

Was it when he, at the physical peak of his powers, led the Power from the doldrums to a semi and preliminary final appearance in consecutive seasons in 2013 and 2014 as its premier on-baller, winning back-to-back All-Australian gongs in the process?

Or was it when he, having seemingly been phased out of the midfield as his career entered its twilight, returned to being a dominant on-baller in the late 2010s and early 2020s, winning another All-Australian nod and finishing runner-up in a Brownlow Medal as a 32-year old?

Boak plays a more selfless game these days, with the Port midfield in the hands of Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis, but his influence on the team is clear with every glowing word spoken of him, in the cheer both Power and Richmond fans alike gave him with a late disposal at the MCG on Sunday, in the fact he’s still entrusted with a spot in Port’s best team as a 35-year old with numbers naturally dwindling given his more peripheral role?

He’s by no means sprinting over the line, but 350 games is an incredible accomplishment for a player whose durability and dedication almost – but not quite – overshadow his incredible talent.

The latter in particular really deserves more recognition.

Random thoughts

– Harley Reid is going to be terrifying.

– Did every boundary umpire in the country go on strike or something this weekend?

– I’ve rarely been more confused by a coaching move than when Damien Hardwick moved Jack Lukosius to the backline against a Dogs team that has never had an answer for him up forward.

– If Christian Petracca is doing goal line spoils on top of everything else, it’s really game over.

– Matt Crouch’s career revival has been a nice surprise, but I’m not sure it helps the Crows at this stage of their development.